


Plotting & Planning

by greyone01



Series: 25 Days of Damerey 2018 [15]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 25 Days of Damerey, Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, DameRey, Developing Relationship, F/M, JediPilot, Matchmaking, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 10:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17119322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyone01/pseuds/greyone01
Summary: Rey is tired of Finn pining for Rose. Poe thinks working with a distracted Rose could lead to potentially hazardous outcomes. Poe finds a willing partner in Rey, and together they decide to work on bringing their two friends together.





	Plotting & Planning

**Author's Note:**

> Day 15 of 25 Days of Damerey

Rey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to block out everything around her and concentrate on reaching out to the Force. The warmth of the sun on her face, the caress of the breeze on her skin, the rustle of the leaves of the trees around her, Finn’s voice…everything started to fade away from her. Well, everything except Finn’s voice.

Opening one eye, she surreptitiously looked at her friend, who was lying on his back on the grass not far from her. He had a dreamy look in his face, staring at the clouds above them, his mouth upturned to a goofy smile even as he talked. Rey had long lost track of what he was rambling about, but she had a fairly good idea about the subject of his monologue. These days, Finn seemed to be capable only of talking about one subject, and frankly, Rey was getting tired of it. She sighed and gave up on trying to meditate, opening both eyes now and scowling at her friend.

“…and you should see the way she resurrected that old droid,” Finn was saying. “It was really nothing more than a bucket of bolts by this time, but she managed to repair its circuits and reprogram it!” He turned to look at Rey, still with the silly smile on his face. Which disappeared when he saw her frowning at him. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m trying to meditate. Was trying to meditate.” She got up and started walking back to the base. 

“Sorry,” Finn said, getting up as well and jogging after her. “It’s just that I don’t know who else I can talk about this.”

“What about Poe?”

Finn looked at her as if she just asked him to jump into a bacta tank. “I can’t talk to him about this!”

Rey frowned at him. “Why not? He’s been your friend longer than I have been.”

“Yeah, but he knows her! Haven’t you seen them together? She’s always around him.”

“Because the General asked her to help him on that new X-Wing. You said it yourself, she’s the best mechanic of the Resistance.” She said it without malice, because even if she was a pretty good mechanic herself, even she had to admit that Rose’s skill was way above hers.

“Poe knew her and her sister,” Finn pointed out. “She said he was practically their big brother in everything but blood. You see now how I cannot possibly talk to him about this?”

Rey sighed. Her friend tally was actually just a tad bit better than Finn, if she were to count the droids and Chewbacca. She had to admit that he was right this time, it would be awkward for him to talk to Poe about Rose like this. But as much as she wanted to be a good friend to Finn, she was getting tired of Finn’s constant pining for Rose. “Why don’t you just spend some more time with her?”

Finn looked at her as if she had two heads. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? She’s always around Poe. And I don’t understand half of what they do to the X-Wing engines anyway.”

Rey sighed again. She started feeling guilty for not wanting to be a willing ear to her friend. Bracing herself as they continued walking, she decided to try a little bit harder to be a good friend. “All right. What were you saying again about the droid she repaired?”

*****

“So you want me to connect those two wires, then plug it into the third socket?” Poe Dameron frowned at the open panel to the X-Wing’s rear engine. He was trying to boost its performance, but it was a bit too complicated for him to do on his own. Still, he knew enough to recognize that what he was about to do would most likely not end well. Rose Tico was working on his engine’s twin, and Poe had been relying on her instructions to carry out the same thing on his.

“Uh-huh,” Rose replied. She stepped back and peered into what Poe had been working on. “But that won’t work because you diverted the power by connecting those.” She pointed on the array of wires that Poe had been working on for the last 2 hours. “Why did you do that?”

“Because you told me to?” Poe raised an eyebrow. “You said…” He stopped when she saw something behind him that made her eyes open wide. Poe glanced back quickly, following her gaze, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just other ground crew doing their work, droids buzzing around, the Wookie Chewbacca stepping out of the Falcon to greet Rey and Finn. Then it clicked in his head. Rey and FINN. He looked back to his companion and saw that there was a faint blush on her oil-stained cheeks. He looked back again at the two newest members of the Resistance and saw Finn looking at their direction. Poe smiled and waved at him, but the younger man seemed not to notice. 

Poe stepped away from the engine and grabbed a clean piece of rag from the bench. He handed it to Rose and gestured to the oil on her cheeks. Rose gave him a small grateful smile and dutifully wiped the grease away. Poe winked at her before turning to Finn and Rey, waving them over.

“Wanna show you what we’ve been working on,” Poe started when the pair approached them, noticing with amusement how Rose suddenly appeared busy on her side of the starship. Rey was visibly relieved when he walked to the engine. She followed him, leaving Finn on his own with Rose. 

“Uh, you wanted to show us how you messed up this engine’s power coupling?” Rey asked, recognizing right away the wrong connections. 

“Yeah, but just you,” Poe said his voice dropping lower. “I need your help.”

Rey looked at him curiously. “But Rose is right there,” she started, briefly glancing to where Rose was standing a few meters away. Immediately, she noticed the shy smiles being exchanged by Finn and Rose. “Oh.”

“Yep,” Poe looked at her knowingly. He nodded to the engine again. “Look, Rose has been helpful for most part, but she’s been getting more and more distracted every day. I worked on this for a good part of this afternoon, running everything by her, and this is what happened.”

Rey snickered. “Oh, I get you. My ears are nearly bleeding from having to listen to Finn go on and on about what Rose saying this and doing that.” She studied the jumble of wires in front of her. “I haven’t been able to do any meditation because he seemed to think that that’s the best time for chatter away about her.”

“Jealous?”

Rey’s head whipped around to look at the pilot, who was standing close enough for them to speak in low tones. “Of course not. Finn is a friend, nothing more,” she clarified. “Besides, look at them. They are obviously meant for each other, even if they’re a bit clueless about it now.”

“Good, so you noticed that, too. I figured it’s time to do something about it,” Poe stated conspiratorially. “That’s why I need your help.”

“What are you thinking?” Rey asked, reaching into the engine to try to fix Poe’s handiwork. “Sorry, do you mind if I sort this out?”

“No, go for it,” Poe replied easily, stepping sideways to give her more room, but still staying close enough for them to talk quietly. “I was wondering if we could maybe give them a nudge to the right direction, you know, get them to spend more time together.”

“So you approve of Finn?”

“Huh?”

“Finn wouldn’t hang out with Rose because you’re around all the time,” Rey said, gesturing for Poe to hand her the pliers. The tips of his fingers lightly brushed her hand as he pressed to her open palm, and perhaps he let it linger a little longer than necessary. Rey looked at him. “Finn thinks you act like a big brother to Rose all the time.”

“That I do,” Poe acknowldged, and Rey saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Paige and Rose had always been like my sisters. I tried to look out after them.”

“You still do, with Rose,” she told him. He gave her a small smile. “Well, I wouldn’t be making this proposition with you if I had issues with Finn.”

“True,” Rey nodded. She grunted as she tightened the last screw. “There, that’s all fixed.”

Poe’s eyes widened. “Took me half the afternoon, and you managed to fix it in just minutes?! Did you use the Force on this one?”

“That’s not how the Force works,” Rey smirked. “So, Commander, how do we do this?”

Poe looked at her sheepishly. “I actually haven’t planned that far. Any ideas?”

She couldn’t hold back a teasing smile. “You gave us a mission without a game plan? Somehow, I’m not surprised.”

“I know,” he smiled back, marveling at ease they were with each other. “But at least I got me a partner.”

For some reason, his words made her blush. Before any of them could say anything, Rose called out to them. “Hey, you two! What are you whispering about over there?”

Poe’s hand went to rub the back of his neck. “We, um, I was just showing off my skills in fixing engines to Rey. Turns out she could actually give you a run for your money.” 

“You fixed it?” Rose squealed. She rushed to the engine Rey had been working on, and in Rey’s haste give her some space, she accidentally backed into Poe. Poe’s hand reflexively went to her elbow.

“Sorry,” they both said at the same time, Poe letting go as Rey stepped away. The blush on Rey’s cheeks deepened.

“Poe’s right, you’re good! This is exactly as I would’ve done it!” Rose gushed. She smirked at Poe. “That was how it was supposed to be done, Commander.”

“Maybe if you weren’t thinking…ooooofff!” Whatever Poe was going to say was cut off by Rey’s elbow digging into his ribs. “I meant, maybe we need extra hands in fixing this,” Poe remarked, looking at Rey meaningfully.

Rey looked at Poe thoughtfully, completely missing the suspicious look Finn had thrown at her. Poe was still looking intently at her, hoping she’d get what he was trying to say. “I was thinking maybe Rey and Finn can help us? You know, four pairs of hands better than two?” Poe said aloud. Leaning closer to Rey, he whispered, “Catch my drift?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Rey nodded. “We’ll get this fixed faster, I guess.”

“I don’t know guys,” Finn spoke up, his eyes going between Poe and Rey. “I don’t know engines like you all do. I might slow you down.”

“Finn, buddy, I’m sure we’ll work something out,” Poe reassured him amicably. “Let’s give it a go tomorrow. Now, I think we should call it a day and head to mess.”

“Yeah, they should be serving dinner soon,” Rose agreed. “I’ll just put these away.” She gestured to the array of tools she and Poe had left scattered around.

“I’ll take care of that,” Poe quickly said. “Maybe Rey…”

“I’ll help Poe,” Rey quipped. “We’ll see you at mess.”

This time, Rey did not miss the questioning look Finn gave her. She replied slightly tilting her head to Rose’s direction. Finn looked like he wanted to say something, but seemed to have decided against it at the last minute. Rose was also giving them a funny look. “You sure?”

“Yep,” Poe replied as Rey nodded. “We won’t be long.”

“Oh-kay,” Finn said slowly. He looked at Rose, who shrugged. “We’ll see you later.”

“See you later,” Rey called as the two finally started walking away. She waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Poe, who had started clearing their work area. “So, that’s how you want to do this? The four of us working on this X-Wing?”

Poe grinned proudly. “Saw an opportunity, took it. Figured if we,” he gestured to himself and Rey, “appear busy on something, they’ll start working together. We do that long enough and often enough, and then maybe before we know it, mission accomplished.”

Rey gave him wry smile. “If she doesn’t kill him first. Finn hardly knows anything about fixing engines.”

“Oh.”

“That’s actually also one of the reasons he wasn’t keen on hanging out with you and Rose while working on the X-Wing.”

“Oh,” Poe said again. He thought about it for a bit, then shrugged. “Well, do you have any suggestions?”

“No,” Rey admitted. She picked up several wrenches from the floor, then handed them to Poe. “I guess we could just give this a try for now, until we think of something else.”

“Righty-o,” Poe was grinning again. He shut the last tool kit close, then loaded it onto the tool cart. He beckoned one of the maintenance droids and instructed it to take the cart back to maintenance bay. “So, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Dinner?”

Rey’s answering smile was bright. “Let’s!”

With both feeling quite upbeat despite their not so promising game plan, they kept a light banter as they made their way to the mess hall. Rey’s cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, something she’s never experienced before, and Poe realized that he quite liked her smile. If carrying out their plan meant that they’d be spending more time together, he certainly wouldn’t mind that.

Nope, he wouldn’t mind that all.

**Author's Note:**

> So my 25 Days of Damerey will not quite finish on schedule...but there will be 25. There also will be more to this story in the future, hopefully y'all will stick around to read it.
> 
> Thanks to all leaving kudos and comments!


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